Mark Stack Comic Reviews

Jughead #1 is about as good as a first issue gets. For existing and new readers, it tells you all you need to know and that is that Jughead Jones really likes hamburgers.

What started as a light read focusing on a young woman's adventures in a strange land of magic and technology has blossomed into a full-blown epic with three different plot threads running concurrently. The book has taken on a relentless pace as the assault launched by the Council has thrown Amelia and supporting character/male lead Hector into dramatically different situations.

Wrapping up all of the major plot threads in the previous issue allows the characters room to breath and emphasize the relationships that the book can credit for its longevity. The absence of Amelia's golem and buddy Lemmy is felt after so many issues of him appearing silently beside her. It's a testament to how human Brokenshire made the character feel and how deftly Kirkbride & Knave were able to build his bond with Amelia. His "reappearance" at the end serves as a fine punctuation mark for the series.

Neverboy #1 is a good start made fantastic by strong themes, frenetic artwork, and exceptional color work. Its a little slight as far as some first issues go so issue two is probably going to be the make or break point. But, as it stands, color me excited to see what happens next.

For being set around a roller derby match, this book does not do a very good job of conveying the action of the match in a way that could be described as easy to follow. The backgrounds more or less disappear as the action gets going and theres no real way to get a feel for the geography of the match. Where is everyone in relation to the protagonist? How many laps have the teams gone around the track? These are questions that readers like myself might find themselves asking and that drags the book down a bit. Thats not to say that the action isnt both fun and engaging, though. It manages to overcome these flaws with the strength of the ideas on display, the dynamic artwork, and a great final page.

Daredevil #1being a job didnt prevent Garney and Milla from putting in quality work. Writers generally arent going to put in as much time and work into these comics as the artists are but Soule could have at least tried matching their effort. He didnt and that just leaves this great looking comic thoroughly mediocre.

This comic pulls out a gun and in doing so puts down the human drama and the low-key stakes it was establishing in favor of something unnecessarily cartoonish that isn't rooted in what came before. I wish this comic had taken an improv class.

This comic, even with a couple of genuinely funny moments, is the sort of ugly and empty-headed work that barely attempts what passes for commentary on the state of the X-Men. Its a supreme disappointment to see a talent like Walsh put on this book and to have his work sabotaged by a weak script as well as a colorist that combats him at every turn. This comic is a tire fire. Its poorly conceived and poorly crafted, a failure on almost every level.